TF4 – Digital Transformation
SIFTING TRUTH FROM FICTION: ENHANCED PROTECTION FROM FAKE NEWS
ABSTRACT
This policy brief examines approaches to reducing the impact of “fake news” on children, exploring elementary safeguarding measures and an educational focus to distinguish authentic from manipulative material. We focus on a two-layered approach. Our first proposal encourages social media platforms to sign up to a sharing and checking standard, involving enhanced sharing protocol and measures to encourage the production and dissemination of fact checks. We then propose a schools’ curriculum, which delineates the range and type of threat presented by web-based media, helps young people to identify these threats, provides young people with the tools to evaluate misinformation and potential deceit, and alerts them to the consequences of sharing misinformation.
AUTHORS
Muhammad Khurram Khan
Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research
Emeric Henry
Sciences Po
Paul Grainger
University College London (UCL)